Will We See Beheading of Nick Berg? (Rush Limbaugh transcript)

rushlimbaugh.com ^ | 5/11/04 | Rush Limbaugh

[Born Conservative]

Will We See Beheading of Nick Berg? May 11, 2004 Listen to Rush… (...discuss how he fears the left will blame this beheading on Bush, not Al-Qaeda) BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: All right, just saw that video. I didn't see the actual beheading, but the video that we've just been made aware of, al-Jazeera video on their website. Al-Qaeda beheading an American in Iraq from Philadelphia's name has been released. His name is Nick Berg. Nick Berg, and he's from Philadelphia, and Fox just had a little bit of a videotape with Nick Berg alive sitting in front of what looked to be five terrorists, all hooded and robed, but looked like actually a still shot of the video. There was no action in it, and let me, again, put this in perspective for you, ladies and gentlemen, because we had a caller -- 26-years-old, by the way, Nick Berg -- we had a caller last hour. He said, "All right, you watch. You watch, the pictures are the reason for this happening," because these terrorists out there are saying that this is payback for the torture of Iraqis that took place in the Abu Ghraib prison, and so the caller that we had last hour, his name was Dan, was saying, "It's the media's fault. The media did publicize these pictures." There is a shot there of Nick Berg, close-up. It's on Fox as we speak, sitting in an orange jumpsuit, and there are the five terrorists, and one of them is reading some sort of statement. I told the caller, I said, "You don't know what anger is yet. If the left plays this the way they have habitually done so in the past, they won't blame the media for this. What they'll do is say is they predicted this. 'This is horrible!'" You're going to have a bunch of Democrats go to the microphones. They'll be very sad, by the way. They'll be very sad and be despondent and depressed and they feel terrible because they said this is what would be the outgrowth and the outcome of these pictures, that it would endanger the lives of Americans around the world and we knew this was going to happen and they'll blame it on Bush. They'll try to blame the death of Nick Berg on Bush, and then if they can they'll try to go get Nick Berg's family in Philadelphia, Somebody will go down there and try to get their family to go public and blame Bush as well for this. (story) That's if liberal Democrats in Washington play this as they have played other political issues. I just want you to remember something. I want you to remember something so you can keep this in context, and I will admit to you I'm offering this to you as an antidote to what the left might try with this absolutely disgusting and sad story -- and I hope they don't. My hope is that they don't try to take this and make a political point with it. I hope they don't, but we'll just have to wait and see. But in the event that they do, in the event that the left tries to make a political anti-Bush point with this video of the beheading of Nick Berg in Philadelphia, I want you to remember something: Daniel Pearl, Wall Street Journal reporter, beheaded on videotape in Afghanistan or Pakistan somewhere, two years ago. Al-Qaeda did it. Al-Qaeda flew three airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and killed 3,000 Americans. If anybody -- and I don't care who they are -- if anybody tries to tell you that these pictures from this prison are responsible for the death of Nick Berg, I want you to stand up, and I want you to tell them to stuff it. This is just Al-Qaeda being who they are. Al-Qaeda beheaded Daniel Pearl before there was any knowledge of whatever went on in this prison in Baghdad. Al-Qaeda hijacked airplanes and flew them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and one of course dumped in that field near Pittsburgh, long before any of these pictures came out of the prison in Baghdad. Point is this. Do not let anybody tell you we are the bad guys here. We didn't cause this. We are not the bad guys. It's amazing that prior to these prison pictures coming out, Al-Qaeda was the bad guys. Now, my fear is -- and I hope I'm wrong, but my fear is -- partisan liberals are going to try to take this video, this story of Nick Berg out of Philadelphia and turn it backgrounds again, upside down, out of phase by 180 degrees and say, "We're the bad guys now. We caused this. Bush did it. Our policies in Iraq did it, whatever. We had no business being there," blah, blah. "It wouldn't have happened were it not for us," and if you know a liberal, if anybody tries to tell you that, then you ask them this question: "Oh, so we're also responsible for the World Trade Center, and we're also responsible for all the other stuff that happened on 9/11, right?" Because if we're responsible for what Al-Qaeda did today, then we are responsible for what Al-Qaeda did yesterday, and last year and two and three years ago, are we not? And they'll start, "Well, no, no, because we were making headway, and this has just fired them up." You will try hard not to laugh at the excuses that they make, but don't fall for this. As I said, I'm hoping that this doesn't even happen. I'm hoping that this does not actually eventuate. I'm hoping that this incident will chill, in fact, some of the political passion that has infiltrated, permeated this whole sordid story -- which we've just proven to you, by the way, reminding you. It will be on the website tonight, the Village Voice has just confirmed, Richard Goldstein of the Village Voice just confirmed what this is all about. This is about the media regaining supremacy over a story. He's all excited. This is the first story they've really had primacy on he said since Watergate and they're all excited and they're all happy about it, and he's urging all these liberal media people to be passionate and be confident and don't let Limbaugh destroy your confidence. It was an amazing story. I'm not going to read the whole thing to you again because I just did in the previous segment. But, as I say, I understand these liberals like every square centimeter of my naked body, and I can predict what they're going to do before they do it. In this case, I'm praying they don't do this. But if they do, I want you to know how to react to it.

All right, ladies and gentlemen. There's Fox up there once again showing the beginning of the video, and this website, this Al-Qaeda website says that it is al-Zarqawi himself who beheaded Nick Berg. You know, there are all kinds of people in this country, some of them Democrats, elected Democrats who say, "We need to see all these pictures from this prison, from the Abu Ghraib prison. Need to see them! We want to see every sordid detail because we have a right to know! American people need to know what's being done in their name. We want to see them. All the sodomy. We want to see those light sticks." Have you heard about this? Have you heard about...? What are those light sticks? I can't think of the name of them but some prisoners were apparently sodomized with these light sticks.

Now, remember when a cigar was used in the Oval Office? "Heeeey, it's just sex! It's not going to get in the way of anybody leads and does their job. There's nothing here." Now all of a sudden we've got to see all these pictures. All right. Will these same people who are demanding to see every photo and every video from the Abu Ghraib prison, demand to see the Al-Qaeda video? Will they demand that it be shown, the beheading of Nick Berg? I'm just asking. Just asking. Will they be consistent? [Angry, bitter, liberal voice] "If we're supposed to see how rotten a people we are, if the media, if the left want all these pictures from the Abu Ghraib prison to be shown so America can finally find out just how rotten a country led by Bush it is, and how rotten a military Bush and Rumsfeld have," well, will they also want to see the full video front-to-back of the beheading of Nick Berg?

We don't know. We doubt it here at the EIB Network. Informal poll of the staff, we sort of the doubt it, but we could be wrong. We will wait and see. This is one of the reasons, by the way, that the military wanted these pictures withheld. They were concerned about any repercussions to our hostages. That's why they were asking, General Myers Joint Chiefs chairman asked 60 Minutes, "Could you hold these back?" But again, about that, I don't want to fall into that trap. I don't want to fall into the trap that this is repercussion. They've done this long before these prison pictures came out. They did this. They killed 3,000 Americans long before we were ever in the Abu Ghraib prison, and they did this to Daniel Pearl long before we were in the Abu Ghraib prison, so I don't want to fall into that trap. It's going to be too easy to fall. That's why I think the left is going to use it. Here's Bill in Ludington, Michigan. Welcome to the EIB Network, sir. Nice to have you.

CALLER: Nice talking to you, Rush. I'm one of these people that really believe that CBS should show this (beheading tape), the entirety on their TV program, on their news, run it time after time again, so that all America can see that beheading can't compare with bare bodies. This is sickening what CBS has done. The only thing that they've done is trying to make the United States look bad as they always have done, and I'm just tired of it. I really believe that the United States, all the people needs to see this beheading so that they can become as sick as I am of the liberal news media.

RUSH: Yeah. Bill, I just want to warn you here. The media is not going to satisfy you here. They are going to go full bore on how this is Bush's fault because of what went on in that prison, and they are going to consider themselves heroes for getting the real story out and this is the price we have to pay for having Bush as president and this is the price we have to pay for getting Rumsfeld as secretary of defense. [Program Observer Interruption] Even my own staff is nodding their heads or disagreeing with me. It's going to happen. It may not be said in exactly those direct words or terms, but it will happen. If you think the media is going to assume any culpability. They never do that! If anything, they're going to want a badge of honor for this. Now, your point: the same media that shows you these horrendous pictures from the prison ought to be consistent and show us the horrendous nature of Al-Qaeda terrorists. I just wouldn't hold my breath on this, my friends. Joplin, Missouri, this is Marsha. You are next, and welcome to the EIB Network. Hi.

CALLER: I just made an observation. (laughing) How smart are these people? I mean, they have all the press in their favor and they're just beating the U.S. to death and they come out with this, at this time?

RUSH: Ah, ah, ah.

CALLER: That wasn't very smart, was it?

RUSH: Now, wait a second. See, that's the normal reaction, but you are assuming the press is going to feel, the media is going to feel some shame over this -- and they're not. I'm just warning you. I hope I'm wrong. This is one of those times that I would be so happy to be wrong, but I just have too much experience guided by intelligence here, and the fact that Al-Qaeda themselves said this... See, I think Al-Qaeda are pretty smart. They know the media we're dealing with here. They know they're going to be treated not as aggressors here, but the media is going to treat Al-Qaeda, these terrorists, as getting even, and this is, you know, "The United States caused this. We're the bad guys."

CALLER: You don't think they have Terry McAuliffe's cell phone number? (Laughing) I'm just kidding.

RUSH: They don't need it. That's the point, they don't need Terry --

CALLER: That's true.

RUSH: If you've got [60 Minutes Executive Producer] Don Hewitt's cell phone number, you may as well have McAuliffe's.

CALLER: True, very true. And just to say, I have a 23-year-old son, and I respect the military, and I help with the military, but I would never encourage my son to be in the military just because of this kind of thing. They just cut the knees out from under the military for everything, and I would never ask my son to sacrifice himself. I'm sorry.

RUSH: Well, you know something?

CALLER: That's horrible, I know.

RUSH: I understand this, but look. Let's keep things in context. What was done in that prison is not something we want to sanction. I mean, some of it probably did go right up to the line in terms of approved techniques for interrogation; ome of it went way over the line. The proper way to handle it is behind closed doors, behind channels, instead of trying to make the whole country feel a guilt trip over this and try to use this as a way to harm the military effort overall. The real (sigh). If there's a crime, the real travesty here, the real disappointing thing to me here is not just what happened, it's how it is being used. The Village Voice piece, you heard me read it to you. It is crystal clear; they're admitting it. This is a pure, political opportunity to advance an agenda, both of the press and the American left, and they are not denying it.

They're so happy that they finally had this fall into their hands that they're even bragging about how powerful they are now, and they're encouraging each other to be confident and even more powerful as we move forward here. So the abuse of the prison is one thing and it's bad enough as it is. The Army had begun an investigation back in January, and now that it's been made a cause célèbre, it is at least as great a travesty that it is being used to impugn the overall reputation and effort of the U.S. military. There's a way to deal with this kind of thing, and you can even make elements of it public. But this business of all these hearings, starting to apologize all over the world and acting like, "Oh, this is horrible! Why, we can't believe who we've become and all this. Please, world, forgive us," it's just going too far, and it is not going to ultimately serve our aims.

And then when this kind of thing, when this Al-Qaeda video comes out, because people have treated the Abu Ghraib prison incident as a political item, this videotape from the website of Al-Qaeda is just going to fuel it because it's going to allow them to turn the tables and make the U.S. the bad guy. "The US, these people at Abu Ghraib prison, they're responsible for this. Bush and Rumsfeld, they're responsible for what happened to Nick Berg." That's what they're going to -- I don't know how they can not. They're going to look at this not the way you are, Marsha. You look at this, "How stupid with these Al-Qaeda people be? They were owning the media. They were just in total control here and now they go and do this?" They know the media in this country they're dealing with, and they know this is going to get Bush blamed and Rumsfeld, and all the rest. I hope I'm wrong, as I say.

END TRANSCRIPT

[DallasMike]

I wish you were right, but just as easily as the left forgot about 9-11, as easily as they forgot about Pearl, they will forget about Berg, but they will never ever forget about Abu Ghraib.

It's not that the left forgot about 9-11 -- they believe that America actually deserved what happened! They could watch movies of 9-11, Pearl, and Berg 7 days a week and still would never get it.

[Intolerant in NJ]

They'll try to blame the death of Nick Berg on Bush, and then if they can they'll try to go get Nick Berg's family in Philadelphia, Somebody will go down there and try to get their family to go public and blame Bush as well for this...already happened - Berg's father was on TV tonight saying the blame "goes all the way to the top" - Berg was picked up by Iraqi officials in early March and turned over to US officials who held him incommunicato - Berg's family actually entered a suit against Rumsfeld et al to get him released and eventually he was on April 5 - apparently the family blames the government for the fact that he never returned home between the time of his release and his assassination - strangely, nobody seems to be talking about why he was picked up and detained for over a month.....

[TOUGH STOUGH]

That's the hardcore left. I am talking about average Democrats and Republicans.

More people are paying attention to this beheading.

There's so much talk of the video that IF it is released by the major media, many, many more Americans are going to see it.

I could be wrong but I sense something different this time. We shall see.

[joesbucks]

Anyone who thinks the left isn't going to milk this for all it's worth, is nuts.

If the President was a dem, would the right milk it for what it's worth?

No matter who would be in office, the opposition would milk it for all it's political worth.

Prayers to Nick and his family.

[TechnoDweeb]

The pols in general will milk it for all its worth, al queda will and so will every terrorist faction in the entire world.......kind of like the media has milked the images of US soldiers humiliating Iraqi prisoners. I saw the whole video today and let me tell you it is quite vile. This vile act was designed to be so offensive and horrible as to cause a worldwide reaction. This is what terrorism is all about, how can they make the biggest impact while using the least resources.
What I find to be the saddest fact of all is that this single event has somewhat turned the tide, in conjunction with the current humiliation scandals, I think that this will deliver a mortal wound to anybody who thought that our presence in Iraq was virtuous.
I just hope that we get a chance to pull out of that country before losing too many of our soldiers. Yeah I know I sound like a leftist, but I am not. These soldiers are 18-21, in and out of boot-camp in 90 days and shipped off to a far away country where they do not understand the culture or the people they are fighting against, not to mention the nature of the conflict they are engaging in. These young en and women most likely have not had a chance to determine their own image of virtuosity, but I am sorry if you DOT know that taking naked pictures of male prisoners with leashes on then I don't know if I want you to operate the equipment of death that the government provides you.
I am not condoning the actions of Al Queda nor am I condoning the actions of our soldiers, but one thing definitely has influenced another and our politicians do not want to admit that.
Who knows what the answer really is, but the question I ask is....are we talking about the right question??

[Ymani Cricket]

This is one of the dumbest moves Al-Qaeda ever made. They have just sealed their own defeat.... Nick Berg's beheading will NOT be in vain!

Well put!

[mdmathis6]

You joined may 13? Ahhh to join a river to change its course...and what questions do you think we ought to be talking about oh great guru...(or troll perhaps)!?